Rosie the Riveter, the real story behind the feminist icon

Rosie the Riveter was a famous fictional character at the height of World War II. She was used by the American government in the campaign urging women to join the labor force. Today, she is used as the symbol for feminist movements and the power of women to make a difference in society.

BACKGROUND

In 1942, Rosie was the subject of a song written by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, which inspired the “We Can Do It” poster created by J. Howard Miller of the Westinghouse Corporation.

The drastic enlistment of American men during WWII resulted in a shortage of people in the labor force. President Franklin Roosevelt, together with the War Manpower Commission, encouraged women to fill in the labor force.

On May 29, 1943, Norman Rockwell designed a photo for the Saturday Evening Post in addition to J.H Miller’s “We Can Do It” poster. Rockwell depicted a muscular woman based on his model, Mary Doyle Keefe. Miller was a graphic artist who was hired by Westinghouse’s Internal War Production Committee to create various posters to boost the worker’s morale.

Women working in factories soon came to be called “Rosie the Riveter" because of a song of tat name written in 1942 by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb. The inspiration for the song was Rosalind P. Walter, who worked in a factory that made the F4U Corsair fighter airplane.

The song praised these women for their tireless work to support the American war effort:

         "All the day long, Whether rain or shine, She's part of the assembly line. She's making history, Working for victory, Rosie the Riveter!"

ROSIE THE RIVETER CAMPAIGN

Originally, the Rosie the Riveter campaign was intended to encourage women to go to work. They were hired in line assembly, sewing, factories, shipyards, and in the aircraft industry. Between 1940 to 1945, the female workforce grew rapidly, but most of them were paid 50% less than their male counterparts, so they started fighting for their rights through demonstrations and strikes.

Rosie the Riveter also changed women’s fashion. Dresses and skirts were inappropriate for “Rosies” (working women) dealing with hard metals. They needed more practical clothing for work. Women began wearing denims, trousers, overalls, pants, boots, and bandanas, which later on became a statement for equality with men. Bandanas or head scarves in bright colors were also used.

In recent years, Rosie the Riveter has been used to represent the fight for women’s civil rights and the feminist movements in general. 

At the end of WWII, most of the Rosies returned home as housewives.  However, many women chose to continue to work in factories. For many, the war experience had shown them a new life that they enjoyed and wanted to continue. Many historians point to Rosie the Riveter as the inspiration for a new generation of women to consider careers  they had never before thought were possible.The increase of females in the workforce didn’t happen again until the 1960s during the rise of Second Wave Feminism in America.

THE IMAGE BEHIND ROSIE

The identity of the true Rosie is still under debate. Some believe that it was Geraldine Hoff Doyle who worked in a Navy machine shop during the war.

Others thought that it was Rose Will Monroe, a riveter at the Willow Run Bomber Plant was the image behind Rosie the Riveter.

Based on the popular song by Evans and Loeb, Rosalind P. Walter was the real Rosie.

Among the many possibilities of Rosie, Naomi Parker Fraley was the most credible claim as she was pictured while working in a machine shop in California.